After the two settled on their bet, the atmosphere in the lab actually grew more relaxed.
But then.
Just as Tony was about to set up the armor's spray-painting program.
Luca suddenly remembered something.
He walked over to the console and asked casually.
"By the way, Tony. Remember how we planted a micro-bomb in that assassin's heart last night?"
Tony waved a hand dismissively as he adjusted the spray gun's settings.
"Oh, his name was John or something, right? Yeah, I remember. What about it?"
"Didn't you force him to go back and stir up infighting between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra? Is there a problem?"
Luca nodded and rubbed his chin.
"No, I was just wondering how he's doing now. Has he obediently done what I told him to?"
Tony, for his part, said indifferently.
"What else could he be doing? JARVIS's system hasn't alerted me to any unusual movement by the bomb or any attempt to remove it. Looks like he's still thinking clearly enough. He should have gone back and done as he was told."
Luca heard that and agreed, so he shrugged and spoke casually.
"All right, it doesn't matter anyway. As long as he gets the message across, he can say it however he wants."
"Besides, the harder those two organizations fight each other, the better for us. Best if they tear into each other like dogs and both end up crippled."
Tony stopped what he was doing and nodded in agreement.
"Of course. If they don't start fighting each other, how will we get a chance to investigate their backgrounds in secret?"
"Once we're done with everything over the next few days, I'm going to take a good look at what these guys really are! They actually dared to target our Stark Family!"
Luca thought for a moment, and a brilliant, extremely devious idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
He turned to look at Tony.
"Bro, you installed a tracking system in the micro-bomb, right?"
Tony immediately looked up.
He wiped the grime off his hands, and his eyes lit up.
"That reminds me. Of course it has a tracking system. That's Stark Industries GPS."
Then Tony gave an order.
"JARVIS, start the tracking program immediately. Let's see exactly where he is now. We might even find Hydra's lair directly."
"Certainly, sir. Retrieving the signal's location."
A few seconds later.
A detailed map of Los Angeles and the surrounding area appeared on the holographic projection.
But the red dot on the map had stopped in a very remote location.
JARVIS could only reply regretfully.
"My apologies, sir."
"The signal disappeared near an abandoned mine on the outskirts of Los Angeles."
The red dot on the map kept blinking.
"These are the last coordinates he left five minutes ago. There appear to be multiple layers of strong signal jamming and shielding beneath the ground at that location."
"Current satellite frequencies cannot penetrate the ground to obtain an accurate location. He should have entered an underground bunker."
Neither of them was particularly surprised by the result.
It was no surprise that organizations like these had such means. If they didn't, that would have shown they truly lacked ability.
JARVIS went on to report some good news.
"However, the good news is that although I cannot pinpoint its location, I can still remotely control the bomb's activation and deactivation. That has not been affected by the interference."
Tony raised an eyebrow and sneered.
"Disappeared? Looks like those rats are pretty good at digging holes. They've hidden themselves deep enough."
Luca's interest was piqued too.
He walked over to the map and studied the coordinates where the signal had last disappeared.
"Looks like he's successfully reached the secret base."
"JARVIS, record those coordinates immediately. When we have time, we'll pay them a proper visit."
Then Luca looked at Tony with a meaningful smile.
"Tony, since we still have control of the bomb, that means this guy only just reached the base."
"If I'm right, he's definitely kneeling in front of some big shot right now, trembling as he reports on the mission."
Tony nodded in agreement.
"That's right. Since the signal was still moving, it means his superiors haven't killed him yet. You're right, he might be telling them a very colorful story right now."
Luca had another thought and made a suggestion.
"Tony, since these guys dared to come assassinate us in the middle of the night, we can't let them have an easy time. We're not some magnanimous saints."
"How about this? Set a five-minute countdown right now."
"Make the bomb explode in exactly five minutes!"
Luca grew more excited as he spoke, gesturing wildly with his hands and feet.
"Even though we still don't know who leads Hydra, we have to mess with them!"
"Just think, John will be in front of his leaders, swearing up and down that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents assassinated their people."
"And just as he finishes speaking-bang! He blows up into a pile of minced meat right in front of those leaders!"
Luca burst out laughing.
"Once John's dead, there'll be no one left to contradict the story! They'll be even more convinced that S.H.I.E.L.D. tampered with John and deliberately carried out a terrorist attack in their base!"
"That way, we can pin the blame on S.H.I.E.L.D.! Then we let them fight each other to the death, right?"
Luca's plan sounded pretty good.
The more Tony listened, the more promising it seemed, and the more shocked he became as he looked at Luca.
Damn, how is my little brother getting more and more devious?!
How did I never notice he had so many nasty tricks up his sleeve?!
His heart is so black, it's practically...
But... he's right!
The enemy is trying to kill us. Are we supposed to show them kindness?
So what's wrong with really messing with them? It's perfectly reasonable!
Tony didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt. Instead, he increasingly felt that the thrill of hiding in the shadows and scheming against people was incredible!
Isn't this much better than putting on my armor and going into battle myself?
So Tony didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately tapped rapidly on the control panel a few times.
"Beep!"
Seeing the numbers start ticking on the screen, Tony gave Luca a knowing smile.
"Five-minute countdown."
"Then let's wish them a pleasant day underground in advance."